Radiation detectors which utilize thermopiles, pyroelectric devices and other radiation sensors to detect the heat flux from target surfaces have been used in various applications. An indication of the temperature of a target surfaces may be provided as a function of the measured heat flux. A significant application is that of tympanic temperature measurement as an alternative to traditional sublingual thermometers. A true tympanic device relies on a measurement of the temperature of the tympanic membrane in the ear of an animal or human by detection of infrared radiation. The term tympanic device has also been applied to devices which measure temperature of the tympanic membrane area including the ear canal or just the ear canal.
Particularly accurate and rapid tympanic temperature measurements are obtained with the radiation detectors presented in U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 07/760,006, filed Sep. 13, 1991, and Ser. No. 07/832,109, filed Feb. 6, 1992. As described in those applications tympanic measurements are most comfortably obtained with a conical tip of small end diameter which may be inserted into the ear canal to straighten the ear canal and then tilted to scan across the tympanic membrane.